They're Israelites
God renamed Jacob to Israel. Thereafter, God's people were known as Israelites as often as any other name. To term them Jews connotes religion. Terming them Isrealites properly identifies the ethnic group that began with Abraham and has continued to the present day. As for Hebrews, I wouldn't have a problem with it as I believe it to essentially be a descriptor for the Israelites. I would say the only real difference between the two is that Israelites denotes a nation as much as a people, and Hebrew a people as much as a nation (if that makes any sense).
I also vote for David. My next choice would be Moses. David is still revered amongst Israelites and his deeds rival no other leader of that people. He was a king and a prophet and he led a great army (Joab gets some of the credit for that too). Moses was a great moral leader of the people and, like David, is still revered by the Israelites. Abraham fits both billings as well, but my personal preference is for one of the other two. Unless you go with modern leaders, there are really no other choices, aside from perhaps Solomon (and I would vote against him for a variety of reasons).
God renamed Jacob to Israel. Thereafter, God's people were known as Israelites as often as any other name. To term them Jews connotes religion. Terming them Isrealites properly identifies the ethnic group that began with Abraham and has continued to the present day. As for Hebrews, I wouldn't have a problem with it as I believe it to essentially be a descriptor for the Israelites. I would say the only real difference between the two is that Israelites denotes a nation as much as a people, and Hebrew a people as much as a nation (if that makes any sense).
I also vote for David. My next choice would be Moses. David is still revered amongst Israelites and his deeds rival no other leader of that people. He was a king and a prophet and he led a great army (Joab gets some of the credit for that too). Moses was a great moral leader of the people and, like David, is still revered by the Israelites. Abraham fits both billings as well, but my personal preference is for one of the other two. Unless you go with modern leaders, there are really no other choices, aside from perhaps Solomon (and I would vote against him for a variety of reasons).
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